December 25, 2024

2024 KOS All Warrior Team

It is now time for the second annual “All Warrior Team”.  We are proud to announce a partnership with all of our sponsors who aligned to bring you this award, and can be found here – https://keeonsports.com/sponsors/

First let me state the utter joy I get compiling this list each year.  To be nominated for the team, you would have had to play, coach, announce or take part in a game I covered or called in someway in the 2024 season.

Each week I’m blessed to be healthy enough to cover high school football in Northeast Ohio, is a great week.  It is a culture in this area, and one that we are all very proud of.  I started covering high school football in the Summer / Fall of 2015 and instantly fell in love with it. There are few better feelings then sitting in that press box on a Fall night, as the sun comes down and an instant classic is developing between two rival programs on the field. This my friends, is when the “Warriors” come out!

I said recently that the true meaning of Friday Night Football is an chance for the kids to feel special as they perform in front of their peers and parents, and every once in a while, we see a student athlete make it to the NFL.  We embrace those “kids” as are our own, and root for them passionately.

Those young men and sometimes women, are Warriors. It is a term that I get from my dad, the original West Tech Warrior.  So, with that and to honor my dad who has been my biggest fans since I was a little boy, I wanted to create a team of Warriors from this season thus far.

Again, this is a not a list of the best players in the state, but rather a list of the players who came up with Warrior like efforts in the game in which I personally sat in the press box and either wrote about or called the action live.  Capeesh?

Again, it is vital to understand, that the only way a player or coach can appear on the list, is that I covered them that particular weekend.

In closing, as we turn to page two and begin the list, I just want to say thank you, from my family to yours, we love the fans, we love the parents, and we love the schools.  Thank you!

If you’re wondering who I am, I’m that guy you see right at midfield during the coin toss, taking pictures with a shirt that has the Kee On Sports logo on it.  Glasses on, big smile and trying not to get in the way of any number of video guys, ( doesn’t anyone just write anymore?)

Good luck to everyone on this list, and their teammates.  From my family to yours, congrats!

The list starts below with Week One Game One and rolls on from there. Thank you!

 

Week One

Game Covered North Ridgeville at North Olmsted

Final Score – North Ridgeville 48 North Olmsted 0

 

Summary – The Rangers dominated from start to finish as North Olmsted had no answers for their running game.  The Eagles were short handed on the lines and it showed as they couldn’t move the ball or stop it on defense. The star of the night was Ranger tailback Zack Barnhart went for 86 yards on 8 carries with touchdowns of 7 and 56 yards.

He could have had even more but the bulk of the second half was a running clock, and he didn’t play.

 

Week One Warriors

North Ridgeville RB Zack Barnhart with 86 yards on only 8 carries with two touchdowns.

North Ridgeville RB/WR/KR Charlie Steinmetz with over 100 total yards and 2 touchdowns.

North Ridgeville PL/LB Austin DeShazo with a big night all over the ball and perfect kicking

 

Week Two

Rhodes at Westlake

Final Score Westlake 28 Rhodes 6

Summary – Westlake looked stalled at times, but overall made sure to prove they were the better team.  The Rams made a few big plays to keep it interesting for a while, but in the end, the Demons did enough to outclass the Rams once again this year.

Warriors

Westlake TE Chris Campbell with 5 catches for 46 yards and a score.

Rhodes Rams WR Ty’Ion Corpening with 3 catches for 139 yard with a touchdown

Westlake QB Sam Brucchieri overcame a rocky start to finish with 2 touchdowns on the ground and two more in the air, leading the Westlake Demons to a 26-8 victory over the Rhodes Rams. Bruchieri finished with 79 yards in the air and 58 yards on the ground.

Westlake RB Jake Ostrowski with 65 yards on 11 carries

 

Week Three

Glenville at Avon

Final Score Avon 13 Glenville 12

Summary – Have you ever seen rain?  It poured the entire night and never relented.  It was a soggy scene as two of the top teams in the state went at it.  In the end, it came down to which team could kick the ball and which team couldn’t.  Glenville went 0 for 2 on extra points, while Owen Warrick hit two big field goals and Cole Kepner made an amazing catch to bring Avon the victory.

The Glenville defense held Eagles quarterback Nolan Good to just 120 yards on 11 of 24 passing with two interceptions and no touchdowns.  The lone Avon touchdown came on a Tyler Kaufman first quarter run.  Kaufman finished with 21 yards on 10 runs. The always steady Matt Maxey caught 5 balls for 33 yards while Cole Kepner had one huge catch for 42 yards that set up the winning field goal.

For Glenville their main producer was Chris Newell Jr who ran for 107 yards and a score on 17 carries while backup quarterback LaMarques Greenwood checked in and ran for 58 yards with a score.

 

Warriors

Avon PK Owen Warrick with two field goals and an XP in the pouring rain.

Avon WR’s Matt Maxxey and Cole Kepner for catching balls in the nonstop rain.

Glenville backup quarterback LaMarques Greenwood who ran for 58 yards with a score.

Glenville RB Chris Newell Jr who ran for 107 yards and a score on 17 carries

Glenville LB/DE Cincere Johnson for one big stop after another.

Avon AD Eric Frombach for having the box loaded up with food as there was no way anyone was going to the snack stand on this night.

 

Week Four

Avon Lake at Berea-Midpark

Final Score Avon Lake 36 Berea-Midpark 35

Summary – An exciting fourth quarter comeback saw Avon Lake score three touchdowns in the final 10 minutes including a game winning two-point conversion as the clock hit zero’s to win the game. The Shoremen were short handed without Luke Stuewe and their starting quarterback Alex Affolter as well, but it didn’t stop them from overcoming huge deficits all night to win.

 

Warriors

Avon Lake WR/KR Aidan Stewart as he finished with 87 yards on 8 catches with 3 touchdowns and a two-point conversion.  He also had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.  Without Luke Stuewe, the Shoremen needed a lift and Stewart did exactly that.  Stewart also had 3 carries for 21 yards on the night.

 

Avon Lake tailback Anthony Benedict who went for 106 yards on 25 carries with a score.

Avon Lake QB Owen Fach in place of the injured starter Alex Affolter.  Fach did great, throwing for 175 yards on 16 of 24 passing the ball with the 3 touchdowns and the late game poise.

Berea Midpark RB Justin McDonell who had 195 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns.

Berea-Midpark Wideout Andre Alexander hauled in 3 catches for 98 yards, including a 83 yard touchdown.

Berea-Midpark WE Tyson Clay had 4 catches for 45 yards.

Berea-Midpark Quarterback Danny Bowser finished with 175 yards on 10 of 15 passing with a touchdown and a pick.  He also ran the ball 10 times for 70 yards and what appeared to be the game winning touchdown at one point.

 

Week Four Part Two

Elder at St. Ed’s

Final Score St. Ed’s 24-17

 

Summary – This was St. Ed’s first crack at trying to win a game without star tailback Brandon White who they lost for the season the week before in a stunning Week 3 loss to Boyd County out of Kentucky.  The Eagles overcame numerous special teams blunders and a fourth quarter deficit to bounce back for the 24-17 win,

 

Warriors

St. Ed’s RB Tyrese Buchanon did well as the new feature back, rushing for 161 yards on 32 carries with two touchdowns.

St. Ed’s WR Luke Hess with 4 catches for 22 yards and Zach Hackleman with 46 yards on 2 catches.

The Eagle’s defense was the key to victory in this contest as they held the Panthers to minus 22 yards on the ground.

St. Ed’s DB Brayden Thomas with a game changing pick

Elder DB Eli Roden with a pick

 

Week Five

Massillon at St. Ed’s

Final Score Massillon 31

The Massillon Tigers used 236 rushing yards to defeat St. Ed’s for the third straight season, this time by a score of 31-21.   The problem for the Eagles was in the form of Tiger running back Ja’Meir Gamble rushing for 148  yards on 24 carries with 2 big touchdowns.  Also running well for the Tigers was Mylen Lenix with 64 yards on 4 touches along with the game sealing 39-yard touchdown run late in the fourth.

For the Eagles, they simply couldn’t get out of their way with a series of bad special teams played that put them in several bad spots.  Quarterback Thomas Csanyi had a good night however as he went 18 of 30 for 252 yards with 3 touchdowns.  His top target was once again Zach Hackleman with 9 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown. Luke Hess had 2 catches for 28 big yards while Joe Safford pulled in 5 balls for 46 yards.

Warriors

Tiger RB Ja’Meir Gamble rushing for 148 yards on 24 carries with 2 big touchdowns.

Tiger RB Mylen Lenix with 64 yards on 4 touches along with the game sealing 39-yard touchdown run late in the fourth.

St. Ed’s Quarterback Thomas Csanyi went 18 of 30 for 252 yards with 3 touchdowns.

St. Ed’s WR Zach Hackleman with 9 catches for 161 yards and a touchdown.

St. Ed’s WR Joe Saffold pulled in 5 balls for 46 yards.

 

Week Six

Glenville at St. Ed’s

Final Score Glenville 28 St. Ed’s 27

Summary – Despite late mistakes, the Eagles still had a chance to win this game late, but a 2 point conversion came up short, and they went down to defeat at the hands of Glenville.

It was a game of huge momentum swings as at one point in the second half, St. Ed’s went from leading 7-6, to trailing 20-7, to leading 21-20 all in a matter of about a 10-minute stretch.  In the end, Glenville took full advantage of a second chance after a fumble was called “down by contact” after the officials called the play dead, despite a fumble caused by Bradley Eaton poking it loose.  It was a bang bang call that went sorely against the Eagles.  The Tarblooders scored moments later to make it 28-21 and never looked back.

All of this occurring, after the Eagles had forced a punt from the Tarblooders late in the fourth quarter, that accidently bounced off the Green and Yellow, putting Glenville in prime position to take the lead. You cannot give a team as good as Glenville as many chances with the ball following bad special teams plays as the Eagles did.  In the end, it was a series of special teams plays that will haunt them.

From a blocked field goal and fumbled punt return to a two-point conversion failing, it simply wasn’t their night on special teams in various forms.  They missed two field goals and didn’t convert a two point conversion.  That is 8 points left on the board, some things are just that simple and clear.

Warriors of the game

St. Ed’s QB Thomas Csayni threw for 350 yards on 17 of 30 passing with 3 touchdowns.

St. Ed’s WR Zach Hackleman 6 catches for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns.

St. Ed’s WR Luke Hess went for 70 yards on 3 catches

St. Ed’s WR Joe Saffold brought in 4 catches for 68 yards.

St. Ed’s RB Bradley Eaton with 51 yards on 11 carries, including what could have been the game winning touchdown at one point.

Glenville Tarblooder RB Chris Newell JR with 170 yards on 36 carries with 3 touchdowns as he truly was the Tarblooder offense.

 

Week Seven

The Holy War

St. Ed’s 28 St. Ignatius 6

When Brandon White went down for the season, the St. Ed’s Eagles needed that next big back to step up, and after this game it was clear that young man’s name is Bradley Eaton.  The flourishing Eagle Eaton went off for 157 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards and 3 total touchdowns in the Eagles 28-6 win over the Wildcats.  The lone source of offense tonight for the Wildcats was Minnesota recruit Grant Washington who had 97 yards on 19 carries.

After this one, St. Ignatius ran their losing streak to the Eagles all the way back to 2018 in the postseason that year.  St. Ignatius needs to figure something out and fast.

Warriors

St. Ed’s RB Bradley Eaton with 157 rushing yards, 42 receiving yards and 3 total touchdowns.

St. Ed’s QB Thomas Csanyi looked strong with 205 yards passing and 3 touchdowns

St. Ed’s WR Zach Hackleman who finished with 4 catches, 85 yards and a touchdown.

St. Ignatius RB Grant Washington 97 yards on 19 carries

St. Ignatius WR Trey Haddad with a touchdown catch.

 

Week Eight

Bay Village at North Olmsted

Final Score North Olmsted 14 Bay Village 10

Summary – Down 10-0 midway through the third quarter, North Olmsted began a tremendous and focused comeback to defeat Bay 14-10. Rocco Ereditario of Bay started the game with a 61 yard touchdown run but then the Eagles made an adjustment, and held Rocco to just 62 yards the rest of the way.  They also kept Charlie Rodgers in check, holding him to just 29 yards.

The Rockets defense looked tremendous in the first half, holding the Eagles to zero points.  However the Eagles came out a different  team in the third, and began to slowly chip away at the Rocket defense.

Quarterback Tommy Horsfall finished with 86 yards on the ground on 17 rushes with a touchdown.  Horsfall also threw for 87 yards with his main receiver Michael Passafiume finishing with 2 catches for 17 yards, while also rushing for 40 yards on 7 carries.

Warriors

North Olmsted WR/DB Lawrence Stanley with the game changing interception on Bay Villages only pass all night.  It led to the game winning touchdown shortly after.

North Olmsted QB Tommy Horsfall 87 yards and led the game winning drive.

North Olmsted WR Michael Passafiume finishing with 2 catches for 17 yards, while also rushing for 40 yards on 7 carries.

Bay RB Rocco Ereditario with 123 yard total with the score early on.

 

Week Eight Part Two

Glenville at Hoban

Final Score Hoban 20 Glenville 0

Summary – Eli Lee and Tanner Mintz shut down anything the Tarblooders tried to do on offense. At the same time, the lone source of offense for the Knights came from Brayton Feister who had 67 yards on 23 carries for a touchdown.

Warriors

Hoban’s Brayden Feister with 67 yards on a touchdown.

Hoban’s Eli Lee and Tanner Mintz with 7 7sacks combined and 8 tffl’s. Also, a massive fumble recovery by Mintz in the final seconds of the first half which led to more points for Hoban.

 

Week Nine

NDCL at Padua

Final Score Padua 38 NDCL 21

Summary – Simply put, it was the Roderick Love show as the young man took over and couldn’t be stopped.  It didn’t matter how or where they lined him up, from traditional to wildcat, he was taking it to the house!

Warriors

Padua RB Roderick Love with over 400 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns in one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen.

 

Week 10

Trinity at Independence

Final Score 49-27

Summary – The Independence Blue Devils failed to capitalize on three Trinity first half turnovers and it cost them in a 49-27 defeat to the Trojans. Trojans quarterback Aidan Duncan and star tailback Kaden Robinson combined for 368 rushing yards on a huge night.  The Trojans scored 27 third quarter points in route to the victory. As a team, the Trojans went for 420 on the ground.

Warriors

Trinity QB Aidan Duncan with 172 yards on 23 carries with 3 touchdowns.

Trinity RB Kaden Robinson with 172 yards on 23 carries with 3 touchdowns.

Independence QB Dominic Narduzzi with 97 yards on the ground and 204 in the air.

Independence WR / RB Rocco Ressler with 25 yards rushing and 124 receiving yards on 9 catches and a TD.  He also had an interception on defense.

 

Playoffs Week One

Holy Name at Rocky River

Final Score  River 34 Holy Name 14

Summary – A slow moving game in the cold saw the Pirates build a 17-0 lead  half, and pretty much hold on from there.  Not a great game with little to talk about sadly.

 

Warriors

River PK Stephen Cain for nailing two kicks in the cold when they needed him to connect, he did!

River QB Ryan Taylor who managed to lead his team to a win, despite being extremely short handed on offense with injuries piled up.

River LB Ben Borge with a 34 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Holy Name WR – Nic Nemeth made several big plays to keep the Namers hanging around for a bit despite being severely short handed themselves.

 

Playoffs Week Two

Wadsworth at North Ridgeville

Summary – The Grizzlies were far the superior team and shouldn’t have been placed in this game on the road in the first place. A week ten fluke loss to North Royalton caused this to happen.   Despite the Rangers dominating time of possession and consistently stringing together long drives, they came up short in many great scoring opportunities. The Grizzlies defense came through in a ton of big moments and is the main reason why they won.

Despite the Ranger defense dominating the game, the Grizzlies did just enough to win with two touchdowns on offense on their only two drives that actually moved the ball.  The back breaking score for Wadsworth was early in the second half when a fumbled exchange between Cole Miller and Zack Barnhart was scooped up by Jacob Earnest and returned 88 yards for a Grizzlies touchdown to make it 21-3, and essentially put it away.

 

Warriors

Wadsworth RB Cooper Gray with a 45-yard touchdown pass that gave the Grizzlies a 7-3 lead in which they never let up.

Wadsworth QB Brysen Hall with a clutch TD pass late in the second quarter that made it 14-3 Wadsworth.

Wadsworth DE Jacob Earnest   1 FUM REC   1 DEF TD

Wadsworth WR Gavin Madigan with a touchdown catch.

Wadsworth Tommy Hahn with several clutch break ups in the secondary.

 

Playoffs Week  3 Regional Semi’s

Padua 42

Benedictine 28

It was a battle of two amazing running backs going toe to toe in the rain as Padua eventually came out on top.  The Bruins Rod Love went for 262 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns while the Bengals Chris Maloney was virtually unstoppable in this game. He racked up 258 hard fought rushing yards and 3 scores, along with a 20 yard receiving touchdown.

Warriors

Rod Love of Padua

Chris Maloney of Benedictine

 

Regional Championship Weekend

St. Ed’s vs Mentor

Result – St. Ed’s 13 Mentor 7

Summary – It was a driving and windy rain all night long.  Passing games were not an option and in the end, St. Ed’s did just enough to hang on for the win.  All the scoring came in the first 15 minutes of the game, and then saw the Eagles hang on to get the win.  The bottom line here was Bradley Eaton and Nate Gregory making one big play after another on both sides of the ball to lead the Eagles.

Eaton went for 181 rushing yards with touchdown runs of 80 and 68 yards.  Jackson Farley was every bit as dangerous for the Cardinals as he compiled 176 yards on 27 carries.  Scotty Fox had some big yards as well on the ground, but because of the multiple sacks he took, his stat line finished at only 2 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown.  Fox also went 9 of 19 passing for 122 yards as well.

In the end, the Cardinals simply couldn’t punch it in and fans have already been to question their 13-0 record, with levels of competition being called into judgement.  For Ed’s, they were battle tested at 8-5, playing the toughest scheduled in the United States without their top threat Brandon White who was lost for the season in week 3.

Warriors in this one are

Mentor QB Scotty Fox

Mentor RB Jackson Farley

St. Ed’s RB / LB Bradley Eaton

St. Ed’s RB / LB Nate Gregory

THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR CAN BE FOUND BELOW 

The 2024 KOS Ultimate Warrior is Rod Love of Padua

Rod Love of Padua was a one man wrecking crew this season for the Padua Bruins.  He is a D1 talent playing in D3 and will go down as one of my all time favorite players to cover.  Good luck at the next level young man!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vince McKee

Vince is the Owner of KEE On Sports Media Group. A company built on the very best in sports coverage and broadcasts of High School Sports, Boxing, NPSL Soccer, and everything the sports fans of Northeast Ohio want to know about. He is the play by play man for Ohio Boxing, as well as Cleveland SC of the NPSL. Vince is also a 12x published author who has interviewed everyone from Jim Thome & Austin Carr to Bill Belichick and Frankie Edgar.

View all posts by Vince McKee →

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